Learning to discover

Haley Dodd was born to shop. And what better place than a mall? But on this day, the 4-year-old's cart is loaded up with plastic cakes and fake potato chips at the Discovery Playhouse children's museum -- where Mom is her cashier.

In June, the Discovery Playhouse opened its doors at West Park Mall to parents and children for exploration, learning and fun. The small center is filled wall-to-wall with activities designed to help children learn and have a good time while doing it.

Though it's tucked away in a corner of the mall, the playhouse's clear glass windows are filled with displays to draw in curious youngsters and passers-by.

"We've walked by it many times," said Scott City resident Christina Dodd, Haley's mother. "We told her it was her day, she got to pick what to do, and this was top on her list."

Each day, Southeast Missouri State University student Alexis Burnett welcomes children and parents at the door and introduces them to the variety of activities the place offers.

The bright lights of an X-ray machine attract excited children over to the "Be a Doctor" station. Here they can wear lab coats, practice using doctors' instruments, try on casts and slings and even take home hospital footies to play dress-up later.

Other main attractions include a 911 center, where visitors can practice making emergency phone calls, and a human body center, where life-sized models of the human torso, with removable parts, allow the children to learn all about the way the body works. Musical pipes, "Tornadoes in a Bottle" and a grocery area where children can use a real scanner were other favorites.

Five-year-old Jared Neikirk, who lives in Cape Girardeau, wanted to visit the museum to learn about the human body. He had been playing at the center for more than an hour and was especially excited about the plastic torsos that he had seen through the playhouse's display windows.

"I learned a lot," Jared said about the "Human Body" play station. "I already know really much about the body."

Though, he explained, he already knew the parts of the human body, he liked the removable plastic organs, because he got to learn about what is under our skin.

"I never learned that before," he said.

Whether a child is well into his or her first years of school or just starting to talk and explore, the Discovery Playhouse appeals to children of all ages.

"I think they have challenging things for the older kids," said Nancy Greaser, a Cape Girardeau resident who was making her second visit the museum. There are also quite a few activities for younger children, and some activities that all ages can do together, she continued, as her two daughters, ages five and two, played together at at a table.

Nick Abbott, 7 of Jackson, played with the wooden train set during a resent visit to the Discovery Playhouse. (Diane L. Wilson)

At this time of year one of the playhouse's main draws is its indoor location.

"We were on our way to the park and it's just too hot," Greaser explained. "We wanted an inside activity to do."

Seven-year-old Natalie Grimm spent some time exploring all of the center's activities, but kept coming back to the colorful checkered play mat that lines the front of the playhouse. Here, children can measure themselves doing the long jump along-side a wall chart that shows how far different wild animals usually leap.

"It's kind of cool to see how far the other animals jump and see how far you can jump," said Grimm, who lives in Cape Girardeau and was visiting the playhouse with her grandmother for the first time.

At the Discovery Playhouse, it's the adult who must be accompanied by the child, but most of the accompanying adults seemed to be getting into the fun too. Many of them said they were quite impressed with the variety that was offered and seemingly squeezed into such a small space. Some parents were so impressed, in fact, that the only suggestion most offered was that the museum be moved to a larger location.

The Southeast Missouri Children's Museum, a non-profit corporation which established the playhouse, is planning to move the playhouse into a larger facility, the sooner the better.

"We're hoping to buy a building in December to expand," said Burnett, who plans on working there through the fall.

Until then, the children who explore the Discovery Playhouse are learning and loving it.

Discovery Playhouse Hours of Operation:

Tuesday-Saturday 10-4

Sunday 1-4

Melissa Sirrine is a student at Brigham Young University who is interning with the Southeast Missourian. Contact her at news@semissourian.com.